WATCH Agent Carter
If I hadn't been watching the show, I would want someone to tell me: "You must watch Agent Carter!" It's better than Agents of SHIELD (which I enjoy a lot, and I do intend to post more about it). It helps if you've seen the first Cap movie, Captain America: The First Avenger, but I don't think you need to have seen it: flashbacks and little info drops (I think they're not quite info dumps) give you what you should know. I'm avoiding spoilers here, I hope, as I tell you why you should watch:
The dialogue crackles, like a screwball comedy, but I can't think of any screwball comedies that blew stuff up or had numerous physical fights.
Hayley Atwell shines, whether trading insults or blows-or just having a quiet moment to herself. In the first two episodes (run back to back on the first night), she's onscreen most of the two hours, and she really carries it. Peggy Carter is awesome: not perfect enough to be unbelievable, but awfully, awfully good at what she does. Even when hardly anyone appreciates it.
James D'Arcy: why haven't I seen more of this actor? He's quite memorable here as Edwin Jarvis: the perfect, low-key butler who seems to have some talent (and possibly more of a yen than he admits) for spy work. His dialogue with Peggy is a high point of the show for me. She doesn't want help, and she doesn't think a lot of him at the start. Oh, and the moment of a phone call with Howard Stark we get near the end of episode 2 is screamingly funny. Brilliant Husband thinks he resembles Benedict Cumberbatch, and by the end, I was saying: "He's what I'd like Benedict Cumberbatch to be." He's very restrained and absolutely impeccable (most of the time).
Enver Gjokaj: why isn't he in everything? I didn't watch much of Dollhouse because I found it deeply disturbing from the first episode; I tuned in for the last several because I wanted to see the whole Dollhouse destroyed (got more than I bargained for there). Gjokaj played Victor-and a number of other characters. BH called me in for an episode I wasn't watching to see what happened when he accidentally got his programming changed to Kiki the Party Girl, and later I saw him plugging different flash drives into his skull to have different skill sets. He's brilliant. He was also good in Extant, though he had far less to do there. Here, I'm hoping his role will grow. He's an agent of the SSR, and the only one who seems to pay any real attention to Peggy.
Howard Stark appears at the start, though I don't know how much more he'll be in. There are several "I see where Tony gets that" moments, but he's also quite a different character.
So far, the dialogue sparkles, the storyline is a blast (interspersed with some more sober moments), the effects are more of a literal blast, and I can hardly wait for the next episode.
So who else is watching?
If you're not, go watch the first two episodes on ABC.com now. You won't regret it!
The dialogue crackles, like a screwball comedy, but I can't think of any screwball comedies that blew stuff up or had numerous physical fights.
Hayley Atwell shines, whether trading insults or blows-or just having a quiet moment to herself. In the first two episodes (run back to back on the first night), she's onscreen most of the two hours, and she really carries it. Peggy Carter is awesome: not perfect enough to be unbelievable, but awfully, awfully good at what she does. Even when hardly anyone appreciates it.
James D'Arcy: why haven't I seen more of this actor? He's quite memorable here as Edwin Jarvis: the perfect, low-key butler who seems to have some talent (and possibly more of a yen than he admits) for spy work. His dialogue with Peggy is a high point of the show for me. She doesn't want help, and she doesn't think a lot of him at the start. Oh, and the moment of a phone call with Howard Stark we get near the end of episode 2 is screamingly funny. Brilliant Husband thinks he resembles Benedict Cumberbatch, and by the end, I was saying: "He's what I'd like Benedict Cumberbatch to be." He's very restrained and absolutely impeccable (most of the time).
Enver Gjokaj: why isn't he in everything? I didn't watch much of Dollhouse because I found it deeply disturbing from the first episode; I tuned in for the last several because I wanted to see the whole Dollhouse destroyed (got more than I bargained for there). Gjokaj played Victor-and a number of other characters. BH called me in for an episode I wasn't watching to see what happened when he accidentally got his programming changed to Kiki the Party Girl, and later I saw him plugging different flash drives into his skull to have different skill sets. He's brilliant. He was also good in Extant, though he had far less to do there. Here, I'm hoping his role will grow. He's an agent of the SSR, and the only one who seems to pay any real attention to Peggy.
Howard Stark appears at the start, though I don't know how much more he'll be in. There are several "I see where Tony gets that" moments, but he's also quite a different character.
So far, the dialogue sparkles, the storyline is a blast (interspersed with some more sober moments), the effects are more of a literal blast, and I can hardly wait for the next episode.
So who else is watching?
If you're not, go watch the first two episodes on ABC.com now. You won't regret it!